Almost 5 years ago, Estelle & Magan met at a wedding — where M was the photographer and E was a bridesmaid for her best friend's big day. We talked about books for under five minutes, and a friendship was born.

Since then, we’ve shared our love of books, Zac Efron, and shopping on this blog, changed jobs, had babies, moved, visited DC and Disney World together, and constantly stayed connected -- despite the miles between us. RBR has been the our own version of a coffee date, our way to mark the time before we can hang out and gab in person again. Thanks for spending time with us. xoxo

Tag Archives: best families in young adult

Happy Tuesday, friends! Hopefully most of us are enjoying a shorter week since we had yesterday off! We’re back for another Top 10 Tuesday hosted by the Broke and the Bookish. We decided to put our own little twist on Favorite Characters in a Genre and show huge appreciation for some awesome families we have […]

Alexa Y.-I love that you guys chose to highlight families for this TTT! I think family is always an integral part of our lives (whether it’s the family you’re born into or the family that chooses you/you choose), and it’s always fun to see that being highlighted in YA.

Among my favorites in your choices are Also Known As and My Life Next Door – both have great examples of families in them!

February 21, 2013 - 7:10 pm

Jamie-OK I LOVE THIS. I have a lot of these books but have only read Lola and Audrey, Wait and I LOOOOOVED the families portrayed in those two. It’s so important to me to see this sometimes because so often families get shoved out of the equation!

February 20, 2013 - 2:31 pm

Sharon @ The Book Barbies-The Garrett family is one of my favorite fictional families EVER. I love them. ♥ I also agree with your thoughts on Jordan’s family in Catching Jordan. I especially liked her brother and mother, and I definitely see how her dad added an interesting dynamic to the family.

February 20, 2013 - 10:21 am

Lena @ Addicted 2 Novels-You guys, these are some seriously awesome picks. How much fun would it be to have your dad play for the Titans? Oh, and who wouldn’t want two gay dads or to be a part of the Garrett clan?

Sana @ artsy musings of a bibliophile-A great choice to include families in YA! There’s a shortage of that in paranormal books and lately in most of the contemps I’ve been reading so I totally needed this.

Melissa @ Writer Grrl Reads-It’s been a while since I’ve been making the rounds of my favourite blogs — but LOVE the new design! It’s so pretty! Your old design was stellar as well, but this one is just so … perfect for the two of you!

LOVE your list! I totally agree with the Garretts in My Life Next Door (that family was truly my favourite part of the book) and the dads in Lola too!

February 19, 2013 - 4:32 pm

Cecelia-I love where you took this idea – so original! And it does seem that sometimes families are lost in the YA shuffle, so it’s great to have your handy guide to good ones.

If I can offer two others that could earn a place on the list… Sean Griswold’s Head by Lindsey Leavitt and Into the Wild Nerd Yonder by Julie Halpern also feature awesome families.

Great list – thanks for sharing!

February 19, 2013 - 1:05 pm

Kim-What a great idea to highlight the families! You’re right, they often take a back seat to the main character, so it’s nice to recognize the good ones once in awhile. I love your list.

February 19, 2013 - 1:03 pm

Jess @ Gone with the Words-Great choice of topic, ladies!! I always appreciate a great family in books. I agree with E on Jordan’s mom. She was seriously wonderful and supportive. And Lola’s dads!! I LOVED THEM!!

I also respectfully submit Amy’s family from Amy & Roger’s Epic Detour (for richness and depth and realism) and all the families from The Sky is Everywhere by Jandy Nelson (for uniqueness and depth).

February 19, 2013 - 12:11 pm

Tabitha S.-ALRIGHT. Can I start off by saying how adorable your blog is? SERIOUSLY. I don’t know how I’m just now finding it, but I’m kind of obsessed now. So props to you guys. 😀

LOVE this post – it’s definitely something that’s overlooked in the young adult genre and I wish I had thought of it as a post topic this week. I’ve only read two books of off your guys list *hangs head in shame*, but I loved both of them!!

That scene in Lola and the Boy Next Door… AH. Incredible.

PS: If you see a lot of comments from me today, please don’t be weirded out.

Asheley Tart (@BookwormAsheley)-Everytime I see Miranda Kenneally’s books, I immediately think of Estelle because I know you love them, Estelle! I think I want to feature some or all of them during my contemporary month. I also want to feature Lola and the Boy Next Door, Megan, so YAY for both of you throwing books up there that are on my to-read-very-very-soon list!

Also, gosh, My Life Next Door. Such a great family in that book. So fantastic.

I’m bookmarking this post so I can come check some of these books out again. Besides My Life Next Door and Audrey, Wait! I haven’t read any of these and I totally trust you guys when you recommend and suggest stuff. LOVE that y’all chose to focus on family!

February 19, 2013 - 10:00 am

Daphne-love the topic! great families are often missing in YA, but I’m glad you pointed out some good ones. i just finished Second Chance Summer last night and if it’s an honorable mention for you, I’ll definitely need to add some of these to my TBR. 🙂

February 19, 2013 - 10:00 am

April Books & Wine-I have not ready any of Estelle’s choices — FAIL! BUT the first three are on my TBR and I think I want to get to Catching Jordan and Also Known As sooner rather than later — the strong family aspects really appeal to me.

The parents of Audrey, Wait ARE so awesome indeed. I want to be chill like them if I ever become a parent as well.

Oh my gosh, I love LOVE the Garrett family so much. They are absolutely wonderful. All the way.

Lola’s dads = WINNING. They rocked.

February 19, 2013 - 9:58 am

daphne-what a great topic & list! great families are often missing in YA and I like that you pointed out the good ones. i just finished Second Chance Summer last night and loved it and if it’s a honorary mention for you, i will definitely need to add some of these to my TBR. 🙂

February 19, 2013 - 9:01 am

Judith-Oh, I love this topic so much! And though I’ve only read two books on your list, they just have some of my all time favorite fictional families. Lola’s dads are amazing! I love how much they love and support Lola, even though she dresses up like the um, unique person she is. And the Garretts – YES! I love their dynamics so much and dang it, I just want to be a part of the their family <3

February 19, 2013 - 8:52 am

Ginger @ GReads! -The Garrett family in My Life Next Door and Lola’s dads in Lola and the Boy Next Door are two of my favorite families!! I loved their characters and relationships to the story so so much. Also, so glad The Survival Kit is making an appearance on this list. I wish more people would read this book!

February 19, 2013 - 6:17 am

Lori-I love the theme of your list! I read The Difference Between You and Me and really liked it. I wish it would have gotten more attention. I still really want to read Queen of Kentucky.

Estelle, I’ve only read one book from your list (SHAME!!!!) but I’m definitely going to rectify that soon. I love that Jordan’s mom and brother support her so much. The quote from The Difference Between You + Me is absolutely fantastic! I love the family in Also Known As too, it makes me think of Spy Kids. I want a cool family like that!! aaand next time I check out Not Exactly a Love Story from the library, I will DEFINITELY read it.

Magan, I love the point you made about Geek Girl because it’s so true. I liked how support the foster family was too and that it showed a positive side for once. I LOVE the parents in Audrey, Wait! and 100% believe you and D will be fantastic parents. Definitely the kind of parents YA can look up to. 🙂 The Garretts were the best in My Life Next Door! You also made me want pie thanks to Lola.

Fantastic list, you two!

February 19, 2013 - 12:20 am

Stormy-I haven’t read ANY of the books you mentioned, but I just had to say I loved the way you decided to do this TTT post. It gets really frustrating to read book after book where families play either a tiny or negative role in YA. I definitely get that some families are like that but it seems to be a predominant theme.